-Business Standard Marriages on hold, children being returned from schools over unpaid fees; the rural economy is bearing the brunt of unseasonal rains, a crisis in the sugar cane sector and a fall in prices of farm pro Hapur/ Meerut: In the mid-afternoon, when most farmers are returning home to rest, Rana Ranjit Singh is sweating buckets on his farm in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district, searching for vegetables left undamaged after untimely...

-The Hindu Accepting that political parties were in violation of its order, the Central Information Commission however said it was unable to impose any action against them, a move that the petitioners called "an abdication of its responsibilities." Faced with the only such case of non-compliance in the RTI's history, the CIC, in an order posted on Monday night, said that further action could be taken by the Union government...

-The Indian Express Given indicators that the government is considering moving to cash transfers and replacing the public distribution system (PDS), and the release of the Shanta Kumar Committee report, the debate on how best to provide food security has been rekindled. The report has a careful analysis of the sources of inefficiency at various stages of the procurement, storage and distribution system. Especially heartening is the admission that the Food...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Government has stepped up taking measures, well in advance, to avoid any situation of abnormal increase prices of onion and potato. Two major entities at national level - National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) and Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) - will be tasked to procure the two major kitchen staples and store them so that the supply can be pumped in when prices go...

-Business Standard Upward trend continues after base year revision, mainly because of high food prices India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) -based inflation rose to 5.37 per cent in February, from 5.19 per cent the previous month, mainly because of high food prices. After a revision in base year in December, from 2010 to 2012, this was a third straight month to see an upward trend in the rate of retail inflation. The rate...